An Indiana county prosecutor has charged five current and former Indianapolis police officers with fraud and misconduct for abusing the city’s Flock Safety automated license plate readers.
The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department announced Wednesday that an internal audit of the department’s ALPRs found that five officers misused the technology. After launching investigations into the incident and initially revoking the five officers’ access to the systems, IMPD Chief Tanya Terry suspended and recommended terminating four of the officers after one already resigned.
“Today is a deeply disheartening and disappointing day for IMPD,” Terry said in a statement. “These individuals’ actions went far beyond a clerical error or a violation of department policy. These actions crossed into criminal conduct and shook the foundation of trust that our agency is built upon.”
The officers in question are Michael Rogers, Jonathan Schultz, Cassandra Crawley, Matthew Binford, and Abigail Cramer. The Marion County Prosecutor’s Office charged each of the officers with fraud and misconduct, while Schultz was also charged with stalking. Cramer resigned from the police force before she could be suspended.
The IMPD did not say exactly how each officer allegedly abused the Flock cameras, but said they are in talks with Indiana state legislators to bring more regulations on how police departments use them.
“IMPD supports legislation that guides proper use of this technology while leveraging it to reduce violent crime, save lives, and reunite loved ones,” the IMPD said in a statement. “Conversations with legislators are already underway ahead of the next session.”
Indianapolis is not the first city rocked by officials misusing cameras aimed at providing cutting-edge public safety technology to local communities. In August, three former police officers in Bibb County, Georgia, were criminally charged on accusations that they misused the cameras to track individuals while they served in law enforcement.
FLOCK INTRODUCES NEW GUARDRAILS AS SENATE SCRUTINIZES SURVEILLANCE POLICIES
Flock cameras have become a major political pressure point in 2026, as public officials spar over their impact on innocent civilians’ privacy rights.
A Senate Judiciary subcommittee held a hearing today on the topic, but the CEOs of Flock Safety and its industry counterparts declined to participate, according to Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO).